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Home » Baking & Desserts » Icing » Easy Vanilla Buttercream

8 July 2015

Easy Vanilla Buttercream

2.9K shares
How to make perfect vanilla buttercream – Easy to make with just four everyday ingredients, and ideal for cupcakes, sandwich cakes, macarons and decorated celebration cakes.

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A close up of a vanilla cupcake topped with a vanilla buttercream rose in a purple cupcake case.I’ve been meaning to add a buttercream recipe to my blog for ages and just haven’t quite gotten around to it. I think part of my reluctance to post was that I’m not the best at piping and so had no idea how to present it to show off it’s yummy deliciousness. However, a couple of day’s ago I came across 3-second buttercream rose tutorial by Toni at This Mama. Unfortunately the site is no longer live but she made it look so simple that I couldn’t resist whipping up some vanilla cupcakes and a batch of buttercream to give it a try.

I was pretty pleased with the results *smug grin* so I decided buttercream finally deserved a place on my blog.

Vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream on a cooling rack.

I’ve shown it here as cupcake frosting, but it’s extremely versatile and can be used for all sorts of cakes and desserts – cupcakes, sandwich/layer cakes, macarons and, my favourite, as a delicious buttercream layer beneath the fondant icing on the decorated celebration cakes I make for my family. If you’re making my all-in-one vanilla sponge birthday cake, then this is the recipe I use for the buttercream.

A vanilla cupcake topped with vanilla buttercream with more cupcakes in the background and a piping bag.

What’s the secret to perfect buttercream?

Buttercream is extremely simple to make. However, to ensure that you can create beautiful cakes with it you need to make sure it’s the right consistency.

At this point I want you to imagine you’re making a sandwich. I’m sure that, like me, you’ve experienced those times when you’ve taken the butter out of the fridge and attempted to spread it onto your sandwich only to find that you end up ripping the bread to shreds instead – butter still in one lump, bread with a great big hole in the middle. Now imagine how soft your butter needs to be to ensure that doesn’t happen. That’s the consistency you want your buttercream – just spreadable, but not runny.

A stand mixer whisk covered in vanilla buttercream.

So how do you get your buttercream to the right consistency?

It’s important to ensure that your butter is soft in the first place – just spreadable (like you would use for that successful sandwich). The best idea is to leave it out of the fridge for a little while to soften. However, I find that if I forget, I can cut it into cubes and beat it on a high speed in my Kitchenaid mixer and it softens pretty quickly (this only works because I have a powerful stand mixer. I used to try it with my hand mixer but I found my arm going round and round with the beaters stuck in the lump of butter instead of the butter softening as I wanted).

Unfortunately you start with the butter at just the right consistency and then add a load of icing sugar causing it to thicken up. So you need to soften it a little again.

This is where the milk comes in. Gradually beat in the milk a few drops at a time and check the consistency before adding more. For icing using 250g butter and 500g icing sugar I find about a tablespoon of milk is the right amount, but I add it at no more than ½ teaspoon at a time as other factors such as the temperature of your kitchen can also impact how soft the buttercream gets and it’s easy to add more but impossible to take it out.

Vanilla buttercream being piped onto a cupcake with more iced cupcakes in the background.

How to stop everything getting covered in sugar when you make icing?

I’ve no idea. Whenever I make anything with icing sugar everything gets covered. If anyone has any suggestions on preventing this please, please let me know!

A selection of vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream and a piping bag full of vanilla buttercream.

What You’ll Need

Before you start, make sure you have all of the equipment needed.

NOTE – These are affiliate links which means that if you purchase from Amazon after clicking on one the product links below I may earn a small commission. All of the products linked are ones I use in my kitchen.

  • Weighing Scales
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Knife – to cut the butter
  • Electric Mixer (or a bowl and hand mixer or wooden spoon)
  • Sieve
  • Piping Bags – if you’re planning on piping the cupcakes
  • Piping Nozzle – To pipe the cupcakes as shown in the video you’ll need a JEM 1B nozzle. To pipe the cupcakes as shown in the pictures you’ll need a Wilton 2D nozzle.

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Buttercream-cakes-11

Easy Vanilla Buttercream

How to make perfect vanilla buttercream – Easy to make with just four everyday ingredients, and ideal for cupcakes, sandwich cakes, macarons and decorated celebration cakes. Recipe VIDEO below.
4.84 from 31 votes
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Active Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes
Servings: 12 cupcakes
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INGREDIENTS

Metric - US Cups/Ounces
  • 250 g unsalted butter
  • 500 g icing sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • Approx. 1 tbsp milk - I use skimmed but any is fine

RECIPE VIDEO

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Cut the butter (250g) into cubes (about 1″) and beat in an electic mixer until soft.
  • Add the icing sugar (500g) and beat until fully combined – I prefer to add the sugar a couple of spoonfuls at a time as this minimises the amount of sugar that flies out all over the kitchen! You’ll find that at first it’ll start to look lumpy but keep persevering and it’ll smooth out.
  • Add the vanilla extract (½ tsp) and mix until fully combined.
  • (See note about about the required consistency) Take a look at the consistency of the icing, is it spreadable? If not add ½ tsp milk and mix until fully combined. Check the consistency again and repeat until it is just spreadable.
  • Once you’ve got the icing to the right consistency – have fun piping, spreading, or just licking if off the spoon!

NOTES

This recipe makes enough for 12 buttercream cupcake roses or for a thin covering over a 20cm round sandwich cake with a layer in the middle (as I do for celebration cakes). You can find the recipe for my vanilla cupcakes here.
You may find you’ve got a bit leftover from your cupcakes but attempting a neat rose with an almost empty piping bag isn’t easy so I’d prefer to make a little too much. You can easily make as much or as little icing as you like depending on what you’re trying to cover.
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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 5mg | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 520IU | Calcium: 7mg

Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.



Fancy trying a different flavour of buttercream on your cakes?

Then take a look at my new recipe for delicious NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM

Looking down on some Nutella cupcakes topped with Nutella buttercream and a piping bag full of Nutella buttercream.


Free From/Suitable For…

  • Suitable for Vegetarians
  • Gluten-Free
  • Egg-Free
  • Tree Nut-Free
  • Peanut-Free
  • Sesame-Free
  • Soya-Free
  • Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
  • Lupin-Free

If you’re looking for a dairy-free buttercream recipe then try my Vegan Vanilla Buttercream.

The ingredients for this recipe are commonly available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.

How to make perfect vanilla buttercream - Easy to make with just four everyday ingredients, and ideal for cupcakes, sandwich cakes, macarons and decorated celebration cakes.

2.9K shares

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa says

    January 29, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    Hi, I’m just wondering what the ‘right’ consistency is? How soft should it be? Thank you xx

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      January 30, 2022 at 9:14 pm

      The right consistency is going to depend on how you intend to use the buttercream. You may make it to be a little softer is it is being piped on cupcakes or a little firmer if sandwiching a cake. And your personal preference is the other factor.

  2. Alex Li says

    October 30, 2021 at 10:04 am

    Hi Charlotte,
    Regarding “HOW TO STOP EVERYTHING GETTING COVERED IN SUGAR WHEN YOU MAKE ICING?”, I put an ever-so-slightly damp tea towel over the mixer, and wet the kitchen worktop with a bit of water. It’s a trick that builders use on construction sites – the ionisation in the water attracts the dust. Hope that helps!

    Reply
  3. Mel says

    October 07, 2021 at 9:40 pm

    Hi can I use this recipe to create buttercream suitable to do different pipping techniques as the decoration for my cakes?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 10, 2021 at 3:14 pm

      Yes, this buttercream pipes well. Make sure you use butter not margarine and make it just soft enough to pipe but not too soft.

  4. Lauren says

    October 04, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    Sorry also what colouring would you recommend?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 10, 2021 at 3:24 pm

      I usually use Sugaflair gel colours.

  5. Lauren says

    October 04, 2021 at 8:12 pm

    Can this be used inside a sponge cake with jam?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 10, 2021 at 3:24 pm

      It can.

  6. Cristina Gavrilescu says

    August 10, 2021 at 2:18 pm

    5 stars
    Can you add colouring?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      August 11, 2021 at 7:07 pm

      Yes. Use gel colours, not liquid and add it to the buttercream before adding any milk so that you can still get the consistency just right.

  7. Carol says

    July 23, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    My sister in law used to use a shower hat to stop icing sugar flying about. She cut a hole in the middle of the hat for the beaters and then fitted the hat round the bowl when beating the icing. Admittedly she used to make bigger quantities because she was a confectioner and iced some fantastic cake for all sorts of occasions (including Princess Anns wedding cake!)

    Reply
    • Loraine says

      October 03, 2021 at 7:57 pm

      Carol that’s a fantastic tip. Thank you so much for sharing

  8. Alan Wiltcher says

    July 05, 2021 at 12:35 pm

    5 stars
    Nice and clear

    Reply
  9. Beth Dann says

    July 02, 2021 at 4:58 pm

    When making the buttercream a day ahead of time should it be kept in the fridge?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      July 08, 2021 at 12:21 pm

      It should be fine at room temperature in a cool room, but I would store it in the fridge.

  10. Sham says

    April 29, 2021 at 4:33 am

    Buttercream can feel the sugar coarsely… any solution for it ?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 29, 2021 at 10:44 am

      Which type/brand of sugar did you use?

  11. Claire says

    April 25, 2021 at 10:31 pm

    Can you freeze this?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 27, 2021 at 10:13 am

      Yes. You may find it’s a bit stiff after defrosting. If it is, beat in a little extra milk to soften it.

  12. Francesca says

    April 15, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    Hi,

    I am a beginner. That said, I tried to make this buttercream but the amount of sugar thickens the butter a lot…do I just need to keep adding milk ? Or do I need to beat the butter more ?

    Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 16, 2021 at 2:03 pm

      Firstly, make sure your butter is soft and at room temperature. If it’s a bit cold and hard it’ll be hard to mix in all of the sugar and you’ll have a very stiff buttercream.

      Next, make sure you mix in the sugar until it’s smooth, if it looks gritty/grainy then the sugar hasn’t been fully mixed in.

      At this point you should have a smooth buttercream, but it’s likely to be quite stiff. This is where you keep adding milk to soften it. However, you need to make sure you don’t add too much at once otherwise it’ll be liable to split. Add no more than 1 tsp at a time, making sure you beat it thoroughly, then keep adding more until it is the consistency you want. You may find you need to add a few tsps. That’s fine.

  13. Romani says

    March 12, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    1 star
    Followed instructions but got a sloppy mess

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      March 15, 2021 at 3:38 pm

      I’m sorry the hear that. Can I just check, did you use butter or margarine? This recipe must be made with butter, as margarine is too soft and will give a “sloppy” buttercream. If you did use butter, how firm was it when you made the buttercream? It should have been soft (so it could be easily spread on bread), but not runny. If the butter was the right consistency, then can I check how much milk you added? The milk should only be added 1 tsp at a time and fully combined before adding more so that you can check the consistency. If you add more in one go then it can leave you with a buttercream that’s too soft.

  14. Yvonne Daly says

    February 24, 2021 at 9:06 am

    I have tried different recipes for buttercream and this is the best recipe

    Reply
  15. Sophie says

    February 11, 2021 at 10:38 am

    How big of a cake would this amount of buttercream cover?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      February 11, 2021 at 11:45 am

      I use it to fill and coat a 20cm round cake, but it depends on how thick you want your buttercream.

  16. Zuha says

    February 10, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    I hope this tip will help you
    You can put the fine sugar inside the food storage bag in a strainer, close the bag tightly and sift the sugar
    No more sugar dust
    Same tip for flour

    Zuha

    Reply
    • Ann J Ferguson says

      June 03, 2021 at 4:54 pm

      5 stars
      great tip – thanks

  17. KK says

    February 04, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    5 stars
    Best buttercream recipe I have tried perfect consistency.
    Nothing worse than making roses on a fresh cake and it dripping off

    Reply
  18. Danniella Parker says

    January 30, 2021 at 4:36 pm

    How long is this good for in a birthday cake please abd how best to store cake

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      February 01, 2021 at 2:56 pm

      It’ll be fine for about a week. I store my decorated cakes at room temperature in an airtight container, but you can also store them in the fridge. If you store them at room temperature, make sure your room isn’t too warm and you keep it away from the radiator.

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